Sea water threatens Taiwan

When building the temple of the sea god in the southern island of Taiwan 300 years ago, the Chinese chose a place where they thought the sea never reached, but today the country continuously "visits" the temple.

Rescuers use rubber boats to save people stranded by floodwaters during Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan's Binh Dong district on September 9, 2009.Photo: AFP .

AFP said, in response to the annual flooding in the Ma To temple (sea god) in the city of Tungshih, officials were forced to spend $ 63 million to build a new temple. It is located near the old temple but in a position higher than three meters.

Mieu Ma To is just one example of the impact of climate change on Taiwan. The mountains cover two-thirds of the island's area, so key economic regions and big urban areas concentrate mainly in the remaining delta areas. Taiwan's plain area stretches along the west coast and is only slightly above sea level. People cannot move cities or economic regions if sea level continues to rise like in the case of Ma To temple.

"If the sea continues to rise, the low area in the west of Taiwan may be submerged," said Wang Chung-ho, an Earth scientist at the Chinese Institute in Taipei City.

A documentary released earlier this year shows disaster could happen if the country attacked Formosa Plastics - Taiwan's largest petrochemical group. Environmental experts point out that excessive groundwater extraction for irrigation and fish farming may make the situation more intimidating, because when groundwater levels fall, soils in many coastal areas will sink below. sea ​​level.

A recent study conducted by the Chinese Institute shows that seawater has encroached on the mainland for 8.5 km and caused a negative impact on an area of ​​about 104 km ² in Binh Dong - the final district in southern Taiwan. Scientists warn once lowland areas are submerged by water, people will have difficulty repelling water.

"Areas attacked by seawater can become wasteland within 100 years," said Hsu Tai-wen, head of the Department of Water Resources and Marine Engineering at the National University of Cheng Kung, Taiwan.

In a report published in 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that the world sea level will increase by 0.59 m before the last year of this century due to greenhouse effect. However, Wang is much more pessimistic, because emissions are increasing at a greater rate than expected.

"We calculated that the sea level could rise by up to 2 meters before the 21st century ends, which is 10 times the previous century. At that time, the streets in the cities along the coast will sink in. water, " he said.

Besides sea level rise, Chinese Institute scientists warn of climate change that the average rainfall in Taiwan will triple over the next 20 years.